analysis
It was a failed debut in the Biathlon World Championships with a sad Benedikt Doll in the center. Between motivation and pressure in front of enthusiastic spectators – the pitfalls of a home World Cup.
Twelve beaming biathletes sat on the podium in the Oberhof media center late on Wednesday afternoon, lined up shoulder to shoulder. Twelve proud athletes for whom the Biathlon World Championships ended with a medal in the first race. Twelve winners who lost the first pressure – but none of them came from the German team.
The room was more than full, not a free table, the many German journalists did not ask any questions. Because the German quartet was missing in this PK. Norway, Italy and France were able to wear the medal, although things had looked so good for the Germans in the meantime.
“My shooting was just wild, a disaster”
From a German point of view, the tragic figure of this mixed relay is – without a doubt – Benedikt Doll. Ironically, the best German biathlete of the current season (seventh place in the overall World Cup) missed all chances at the shooting range: “I’m very angry. It wasn’t a real shift, my shooting was just wild, a disaster. You don’t train for 20 years of biathlon for that.”
Despite three spare rounds in prone, Doll had a penalty and missed the opportunity to fight for the medals. Previously, an outstandingly running Denise Herrmann-Wick had fought the German relay to third place after a moderate start by Vanessa Voigt.
Pleasure and frustration of a home World Cup
ARD sports show expert and biathlon relay world champion of 2017, Erik Lesser, could sympathize, because he also knows that many biathletes have missed relays. “Maybe he didn’t react properly compared to shooting or just turned the wrong way. When you’re lying down you’re already desperate when the targets just don’t fall. But I assume that Benni will push that away in his head and work it out with the coaches.”
It all happened in front of 19,000 frenetically celebrating fans, an impressive backdrop in the Arena am Rennsteig; a World Cup at home, a home World Cup that can be both a blessing and a curse. Because the expectations of the German team are immense. Many fans have traveled from far away to see one thing above all: successes and medals. An increasing external pressure, quite apart from the athletes’ own expectations.
“It depends on your form whether the crowd can push you. When you’re feeling down and a little insecure, the pressure from outside and the loud fans can also be a hindrance. But when I was in a good mood, I personally liked it that brought forward”explains Lesser.
“It just carries you, you don’t hear your own breathing”
After her race, Denise Herrmann-Wick was enthusiastic about the cheering fans on the Birxsteig: “In the first lap you almost have to restrain yourself, but in the last lap it helps brutally. It just carries you up, you don’t hear your own breathing. It’s really fun.”
Benedikt Doll didn’t feel like celebrating at all. So there he was in the athletes’ area behind the finish line, alone with his thoughts. Around him thousands of fans celebrating a big biathlon party. Again and again he shook his head in disbelief, again and again it seemed as if he wanted to cover his eyes. Doll actually seemed inconsolable in those seconds.
The mixed relay was still in full swing, his teammate Roman Rees was still on the course, but coaches, teammates or even competitors from other nations approached the man from the Black Forest every minute, patted him on the shoulder or gave him encouragement.
Instead of the hoped-for podium, sixth place remains at the start
Rees was able to make up a few places on the final lap and led the German team to sixth place, but the dream of a medal was shattered. When Benedikt Doll answered the journalists’ questions in the mixed zone, the disappointment didn’t go away.
But the possible burden of a home world championship did not blame the former sprint world champion for his shooting errors: “It’s not the World Cup, it’s more about how I’m prepared. There are days when I’m calmer and sometimes more excited. This long wait in the relay before you can go out on the track is of course not really beneficial. That might have gotten me out.”
New chance in the sprint on Saturday
“I’m trying to regain my self-confidence in training on the shooting range. If this were an individual competition, I could put it off quickly, but at the moment I just feel sorry for the teammates.”analyzed Benedikt Doll with some distance after the race.
Doll now has two days to switch off and above all to tick off. The next chance is already waiting for him on Saturday with the men’s sprint. The 32-year-old was already on the podium in this discipline in the current season, in December in Le Grand Bornand – and without any shooting errors. So it could work out with the medal in the next race, with or without pressure from outside.